The Gospel According To JohnSample

Prologue: John 1:1-18

Scholars have described the structure of John’s gospel in a variety of ways. We’ll follow those that have suggested a connection between John’s introductory summary of Jesus’ life and ministry and the content of John’s book. Consider these words from John 1:10-14:

[Jesus] was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God . . . We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

This passage focuses on four main ideas: Jesus came into the world; he came and was rejected by his own people, namely Israel; those who received and believed in him became children of God; and then those believers became witnesses for Jesus. Following those four main ideas, we’ll outline John’s gospel in this way:

• First, John opened his gospel with a brief introduction that described Jesus’ incarnation in 1:1-18.


• Second, John recorded Jesus’ public ministry in 1:19–12:50, where he showed that Jesus came to his own creation and was rejected by the human race he had come to save. 


• Third, John included a description of Jesus’ private ministry to those who had received and believed in him in 13:1–20:31.


• And fourth, in the conclusion to John’s gospel in 21:1-25, John highlighted the role of the apostles and other disciples as witnesses to Jesus’ glory. 

In 1:1-18 John powerfully and beautifully summarized the whole gospel. He taught that Jesus is the Word of God who created all things and is the source of all life. But more than this, Jesus also came into the world as a true human being of flesh and blood. And as God incarnate, he revealed the Father’s glory to the world he had created. 

John described this in John 1:4-5 by saying that Jesus is the light who came into a dark world. He conquered that darkness by being the one full revelation of the grace of God. And while the Bible sometimes talks about Jesus’ glory being veiled during his incarnation, John highlighted the fact that Jesus’ incarnation actually made his glory known in important ways. And far from obscuring Jesus’ glory, his incarnation as a human being actually revealed his glory. John wrote in John 1:14:

We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.